Welch v. Swasey; 214 U.S. 91 (1909) ✔✔The Court established the right of municipalities to
regulate building height.
Eubank v. City of Richmond; U.S. Supreme Court (1912) ✔✔The Court first approved the use of
setback regulations, although it overturned the setbacks in this case.
Hadacheck v. Sebastian; U.S. Supreme Court (1915) ✔✔The Court first approved the regulation
of the location of land uses.
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.; U.S. Supreme Court (1926) ✔✔The Court found that as
long as the community believed that there was a threat of a nuisance, the zoning ordinance
should be upheld. The court first upheld modern zoning as a proper use of police power. Alfred
Bettman filed an influential brief with the court.
Nectow v. City of Cambridge; U.S. Supreme Court (1928) ✔✔The Court used a rational basis
test to strike down a zoning ordinance because it had no valid public purpose (e.g., to promote
the health, safety, morals, or welfare of the public).
Golden v. Planning Board of the Town of Ramapo; New York State Court of Appeals (1972)
✔✔The court upheld a growth management system that awarded points to development
proposals based on the availability of public utilities, drainage facilities, parks, road access, and
firehouses. A proposal would only be approved upon reaching a certain point level. Developers
could increase their point total by providing the involved facilities themselves.
Construction Industry of Sonoma County v. City of Petaluma; U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th
Circuit (1975) ✔✔the Court upheld quotas on the annual number of building permits issued.
Associated Home Builders of Greater East Bay v. City of Livermore; California Supreme Court
(1976) ✔✔The Court upheld temporary moratoriums on building permits.
Massachusetts v. EPA, Inc.; U.S. Supreme Court (2006) ✔✔The Court held that the EPA must
provide a reasonable justification for why they would not regulate greenhouse gases.
Rapanos v. United States; U.S. Supreme Court (2006) ✔✔The Court found that the Army Corp
of Engineers must determine whether there is a significant nexus between a wetland and a
navigable waterway.
SD Warren v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection; U.S. Supreme Court (2006) ✔✔The
Court found that hydroelectric dams are subject to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project Inc.;
US Supreme Court (2015) ✔✔In this case the Supreme Court was asked to evaluate whether
disparate impact is the appropriate standard in which to evaluate the impact of the Fair Housing
Act. Inclusive Communities Project claimed that the Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs was disproportionately granting tax credits to developments in minority
neighborhoods and denying credits to developments within Caucasian neighborhoods. The Court
held that Disparate impact is the appropriate standard to be applied to the Fair Housing Act. The
result is that policies that even inadvertently relegate minorities to poor areas violates the Fair
Housing Act.
Young v. American Mini Theaters, Inc.; U.S. Supreme Court (1976) ✔✔The Court upheld a
zoning scheme that decentralized sexually oriented businesses in Detroit.
Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego; U.S. Supreme Court (1981) ✔✔The Court found that
commercial and non-commercial speech cannot be treated differently. The court overruled an
ordinance that banned all off-premises signs because it effectively banned non-commercial signs